Kdrama Robber (2008) Review – Don’t underestimate this drama

Now, imagine this; So you meet this man. He looks at you gently and smiles. What do you do? There he is, talking to you softly, making you feel special. He’s attractive, charming with a good job. He’s interested in you. He thinks you are beautiful. You go on several dates with this man. He tells you that you remind him of his older sister who passed away some time ago. He wants to protect you the way he was unable to protect his sister.

You can’t help but gaze into his eyes and admire his beautifully chiseled face. You are both getting closer. You trust him. Why wouldn’t you trust him? He’s honest, caring and very respectful. He kisses you softly and your heart melts…. Meeeeelting…!

Now guess what? He’s a jerk! Wait, no. Jerk is too gentle. He’s a womanizer, con-man, penny-less slob who would use anyone and everyone under the sun including taking advantage of his best friend. Wait! What!? That’s not all? His sister isn’t dead!? He used that line on multiple other women!? He keeps a list with women’s names he’s dating, where they work and how much money he can get from them!? He has no issue taking everything from the women he uses. To add that, if you dropped dead, he wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Unreal. What kind of jerk is this? The king of the jerks! The jerkiest, jerk-jerk! Oh, by the way his name is Kwon O-Joon, (played by the forever amazing and truly talented Jang Hyuk)!

Now are you still interested in this man? Is there any hope for this man? Does someone like this deserve happiness? Can someone like this truly repent and change? What would allow him to experience such a drastic change?

This is the premise of the 2008 Kdrama Robber. It’s worth watching. This is the best underrated drama I’ve seen. I enjoyed it immensely. I was feeling a little sour, because I read a couple of reviews where people had very different opinions than my own and didn’t enjoy it the way I did. I guess this will always happen. It doesn’t change the fact that I think it’s a really good drama. If you haven’t seen it, and you decide to watch it, you’ll have to let me know what you think.

There are many things I like about this drama. First of all, I like that it’s not the typical arrogant rich guy – poor girl love story. Our main character is not rich at all. He has nothing. In fact, what he has is a huge pile of debt and the loan sharks are after him. As for arrogance, arrogance is the least of his problems. He needs a complete personality over-hall. As dislikeable as he is for a very large portion of the show, he’s mesmerizing. I’d get frustrated, yes, but he would also draw me in. Despite being a jerk, he holds a certain level of charm that most people don’t have (charisma if you will). Once he really starts to fall for the main character, you see a gradual change where all the sudden he feels something he never felt before: Guilt.

Jin Dal-Lae (played by Lee Dae Hae) is the first woman who hasn’t immediately fallen for his charm. I think this really catches him off guard and causes him to be drawn to her personality, even though he is trying to get a hold of all her money so he can pay off his debts.

Now on top of this, many of the characters are very realistic. They deal with real life issues and personalities that you commonly see. Some of the topics that they touch in this drama include suicide, alcoholism, gambling, overwhelming debt, homosexuality, illness and spousal abuse.

Go, go Power Rangers!

Don’t get the wrong idea; it’s not all super depressing. Yes, there are some very serious parts, some very sad and troubling parts. But there are also very many sweet moments and funny moments. I find it very well balanced. Even though some of the circumstances may a little melodramatic, the reactions the characters have to what’s going on around them seems very real and believable to me.

Jin Dal-Lae was easy to relate to. I haven’t been through what she has. I’m not a single mom with a deceased husband, but I think I would react a similar way to Kwon O-Joon’s charm. Her mother in law sets her up with a blind date towards the beginning of the show. I loved her reaction.

Lee Dae Hae has lots of fantastic crying scenes (as did Jang Hyuk). The way she’d cry as she’s find out various information about Kwon O-Joon, I could also understand. Her attachment to him also seemed very real. She’s a very forgiving person. It takes her a while to open up her heart, but when she does, there’s no closing it.

And the award for sexiest male second lead of 2008 goes to…..

Let’s take a second to talk about the second male lead, Mr. Green teeth smexy himself. I’ve recently posted my top ten favorite second leads. I’m afraid this ajusshi didn’t make the cut. So Kim Jin-Goo (played by Kim Jung-Tae) is our second male lead. In my opinion He’s not very attractive. He doesn’t really have charm or a good personality. He’s pretty cold and socially awkward. He doesn’t know how to get along with other people and is even more clueless when it comes to children. His character does soften up a bit as Jin Dal-Lae tries to coach him on how essentially to act more human. He made me laugh a few times.

Watch so you can see very many bizarre moments like this

Now back to Kwon O-Joon. We’ve already gone over the negatives of Kwon O-Joon but there are a lot of positives as he starts to change for the better. For one, he cracks me up with all his dancing and showing off. He often dances or does something weird out in public.

Mr. Show-Off doing push ups with his thumb.

Look at them back muscles.

Here he is again, Mr. Dancy pants – always with the dancy-dancy.

10 seconds.. just give me 10 seconds to dance!

So, besides his comedic moments, He also has the sweetest moments with Jang Yu-Jin (played by Kim Hwan-Hee). When they meet, they create an immediate bond and he seems like a natural father.

My absolute very favorite moment between them is when she rubs his chest. The way he looks at her as she does this tells me that she’s completely melted his heart with her compassion.

If you really like dramas with kissing, this drama also has some pretty good kissing scenes. Lee Dae Hae and Jang Hyuk had really good chemisty.

There a lot of other moments I would like to share, but I don’t want to spoil it too much for those who might be interested in watching it for the first time.

I would like to give a special thanks Drama Fan from stuckonhyuk and Hyuk Ahjussi devoted fan from ahjussifan for letting me use their amazing Robber gifs. They are really well done and they help illustrate the awesomeness that is this drama. If you like Jang Hyuk, you should really follow Drama Fan and Gumi from Stuckonhyuk and Hyuk Adjusshi devoted fan (adjussifan). I go to them for my Jang Hyuk fix. It’s thanks to you three that I even discovered him.

A very good Drama! Feel free to share your thoughts 🙂

My rating 4.7/5

Now, I must part with you all so I can get back to watching Chuno. I’m so scared to finish it though… So intense.

81 comments

This review is so good and I can’t agree more…! It’s exactly what I would like to say, except I can’t write this well 😛 I loved Robbers, it is a very special drama, cliche but not a cliche, real but not typical. Kwon Oh Joon was the biggest jerk in my K drama history, but was also the most vulnerable and lovely…The drama really challenged itself to show a man’s repentant story. He was not just a typical Kdrama asshole male lead who just acts sassy for character charm, he actually really was a bad guy and did some unforgivable things, but actually did change and luckily had the girl to forgive him. Truly transformative.

Yes. I couldn’t agree more. And the fact that it wasn’t very popular makes me feel like I’ve discovered this hidden gem of a drama. I really thank you guys for even putting it on my radar. Otherwise I would have overlooked it.

Wowwwww first of all this review is amazing!!! Your writing is great. Even I didn’t agree with you I would love it hehehe! However I agree with every word you said. I am thrilled that we were the ones to introduced you to Jang Hyuk although I believe we should give some credit to the amazing Gong Hyo Jin (Thank you Gong Hyo Jin!!!) Im also thrilled to see our gifs looking even more beautiful in the context of your awesome review. About the drama, yes, it is underrated. It is a gem except I could maybe understand people not being able to accept a character so incredibly assholish for the first half of the drama. This is I believe what made his redemption so very delicious to watch. If he had been a “misunderstood” baddie it would’ve had much less impact. This guy was rotten! but he had that spell binding although sometimes awkward charm which made him so dangerous and hot raaawwrrr. Gahhhh I really love/hated this guy at first. About our gifs, these are the first I made so they are a bit heavy. Im planning to resume my rewatching of Robbers after I finish Thank You and I will probably optimize the gifs so they will run faster. I’ll let you know so you can replace them then. I’m so happy you discovered Jang Hyuk because I really love loveeeeee your reviews, his dramas deserve something really well written like this ??❤️

The review is great, but I have some problem in fully loving this drama. I should have listen to DramaFan to skip the first 6/7 episodes. He was a really pain-in-the-ass guy, and it was really pain for me to go through those earlier episodes. I started to love him halfway through the series because the later Kwon Oh Joon is just too sweet and beautiful. But still, will not rewatching this anytime soon.

Really liked your review! I was floored when I found this drama on Youtube. Then did a little hunting and found the Stuck on Hyuk blog. It turned out they were just watching this drama for the first time and all their posts at the time were for Robbers. It was a win! LOVE that blog. There were some tough moments to get through with this drama, but I loved the chemistry of the leads and the little girl. I really felt his guilt-once he felt it, that is. The power of pure love changed him. The gangster scenes were a little redundant, as was the gangster’s pursuit of her mother-in-law, but I made it through. lol. This drama is seriously Jang Hyuk at his best! The most lovable con-man ever. (Next to Sawyer on LOST)

About the gangsters and beatings, doesn’t Jang Hyuk do “pain” really well? When he hurts on screen, I feel his pain, not just his emotional pain but his physical pain! In Robbers, I think they made the punching sounds a bit too loud, but his face. his groans, make even those fake sound effects feel very real.

At last it is OUT! YAY!!! thanks a lot dear for this wonderful and well written review for this underrated drama. Totally agree with what you mentioned here <3
Another factor that makes me really love this drama and rewatch it aside from loving Da-hae acting here and of course Hyukie and their great chemistry, is the secondary cast. From Dal-Lae daughter and mother in low to our second male lead to Oh Joon friend. They were all really great in their roles and I felt for them.

I’m spazzing in anticipation of that Chuno review ? You are going to kill me of the spazzz I knowss ittt! And you are doing a drawing of Hyukie? Thunk thunk thunk and more thunk! omg I can’t wait to see itttttt!!!!

DaHae was wonderful! great character and performance. She was a very realistic character and I totally understood her actions and feelings and she was naturally charming and cute. Not forced like many female leads. Loved Da Lae ssi! ❤️❤️❤️

Great review, Zhaoul! I completely agree with your words. For the record, I’d also like to add that I have known a number of players and con artists in my time (sadly enough), and Jang Hyuk plays the personality type to a “T.” His scenes from the first moment in the airport made me laugh harder than expected, as he so elegantly spun the webs of his manipulation. I have read in an interview with his acting coach that few people delve as deeply into characterization as Jang Hyuk. While evidence of his devotion to his craft can certainly be found in Chuno, for instance, that same intellectual approach shines through Jang Hyuk’s portrayal of Oh-joon-ssi. In the beginning, Oh-joon is a powerless man, one who manipulates others out of the lack of options he feels in controlling his environment. On top of that premise, Jang Hyuk layers Oh-joon’s frustration, anger, shame, pride, and arrogance. The approach is so multi-layered and on-target that it compels me to keep watching and keep admiring how Jang Hyuk knows the human psyche so well. Whereas to others, Oh-joon’s early character may be repulsive, to me, it is real and a testament to Jang Hyuk’s humor and art.

Yes, you can tell jang hyuk is really strong with character development. If you don’t understand or develop your character’s back story often beyond the script how can you play them properly. I thought he was kind of funny at first too. I think i found him humurous because he knew so well how to manipulate people and it worked. The fact that such an appealing personality like Jang Hyuk can make us dislike him (or his behaviour anyway) is really a testament to his acting skills. Thank you for your comments. It gives us a lot more to think about.

Funny and scary how he knew how to manipulate people, and especially women. I remember being appalled at the scene when he is telling one of the gansters that women are all “mothers” so you must appeal to their “maternal instinct” Soooo hideously cold!!! and yes real! There are so many men who use strategies like this to “get” women but that’s why I wanted to scratch his eyes out, because he reminded me of reality.

Thank you, Drama Fan! I love your blog and massively appreciate the work that you do to keep us abreast of all-things-Jang-Hyuk. Thanks, too, for your comment above and the reminder about Oh-joon consciously appealing to “maternal instincts.” A cold echo of reality, indeed! Zhaoul, how great is it that Chuno has enough substance for you to worry about doing it justice? May that worry transform, butterflies and all, to inspiration. Hwaiting!

Haha you can’t escape The Liebsterrrrr lol! kidding! I just wanted to make sure you did see it. If you feel lazy you can bend the rules you know? You can ask fewer questions etc I’ve seen people bend the rules very often. I’m just curious about your answers ?

I love this drama. Well..maybe I’m a bit biased since i adore JH..I think I’ll like any drama he’s in even if he’s acting as lamp-post or a dead wood..LOL…but seriously, he’s amazing in this…being bad-boy who turned over a new leaf…It’s 2 thumbs up!!!

Got the dvd simply bcos of JH in it. JH is really a classy actor, his characterisation of every role he plays in is unbelievable. I dont know of any Korean actor who is like him. JH played it so well esp when he was going to turn a new leaf and at some point, i thought it was a manipulation again..he played the cheater, the con so well it took a while before you can figure out its for real. The 2nd part became a bit too sweet but nonethless bittersweet when he decided to go all the way since he will die anyway. Have you noticed JH is amazingly good w child actors? This drama had the worst ratings in JH career and i think i can understand why. Its not your atypical K drama. Also i think even though JH delivered his part, some parts of the story were pretty choppy. Some of you have commented on the chemistry w Lee Dahae..i beg to differ. She is pretty, sweet and those killer eyes can melt. But still not enough chemistry..i couldnt empathise w her. In fact i cheated a bit and fast forward some of her scenes. Im glad i watched though to appreciate JH as an actor.

I love this drama and only found it thru deciding to check out all Jang Hyuk’s projects.

I’m surprised this one didn’t make the cut popularity wise. People always recommend Coffee Prince and Sam Soon, but this show has everything – from comedy, melo, to quirky (the quirky is all via JH). I also don’t get why he’s never commended for his ability to do comic scenes.

Oh well, all I can say is, the hero was horrible but that just made his change all the more enjoyable.

@Nancy C – if you’re a Huck-a-Buck fan, you’ll love it (but you must stick thru being disgusted by his character in the first few episodes. However, by episode 5, you’ll be swooning over him despite the fact he needs a good spanking).

I agree with you and the review…it is a great drama but I love JH so much that it is difficult to see sad things happening to his characters…I suffered a lot with this drama…poor Kwon Oh Joon! For those who hated his character, this just shows how amazing and convincing he is when playing a character. In any case, you may see how pitiful he is and why he acts like a jerk…he is a bad guy because of his sad life 🙁

In my opinion, Jang Hyuk is the best korean actor, he can easily portay any role and his acting is so intense and natural that you may forget that it is just a character…and OMG he is so handsome…Jang Hyuk = perfection.

JH had become one of my favorite actors across the globe. I’m not talking about my crushes/biases (although he would be near the top of that list too), but for acting intensity, ability and believability, for me, he ranks with Al Pacino and Robert Duvall. And when I think about the way they film dramas in Korea, he probably gets very few takes and retakes but has to nail it the first time. That’s impressive.

Yea. It’s completly underrated. The second male lead is great. I liked him a lot. He’s not strikingly handsome like most make leads, but he’s really funny and awkward. I really like Jang Hyuk and Lee Da Hae’s acting in Robbers.

I just read today that Kim Bum had been cast to start in a biopic film of Bruce Lee. I adore Bummie, but as I was scrolling through this post again to get to you guys’ comments, seeing the GIFs of the thump-ups and the Ninja Assassin handstand made me think “who better to play Bruce Lee as long as they’re letting a Korean play him?” And even taking into consideration Hyukie’s age – shoot – I just watched him in Ep. 4 of The Merchant and he’s playing 17! (His love wrinkles around the eyes only show up during his maniacal laughter which probably won’t be called for to play Bruce Lee. lol. Although, if the shoot goes long, we all know about the luggage under JH’s eyes when he’s tired. Not much can be done skit that, I guess. Love him anyway. )

Speaking of supporting characters in “Thank You”, I fell in love with the mom-in-law/grandmother’s (Kim Hae-Sook) voice when she sang in this series. Does anyone know of any other dramas that she sings?

Yeah, DaeGil showed up a few hours before the wedding and made some assumptions that Lee Dae Hae had been married for years because they two had a small child with them. It was one of the most frustrating scenes ever as a viewer – “just walk up to her! She still loves you! She isn’t in love with him yet. The marriage won’t take place but you have to see her now because in an hour she’ll be married! – So despite it frustrating the viewers, it didn’t compare to DaeGil’s frustration. This allowed us to witness an amazing grief scene by Jang Hyuk that as you watched you went – okay, he’s reached the limit. Ok, now, he’s reached his limit. Then, okay, now he’ll taper off. But no! He went on and on and on and on and it was ABSOLUTE DAEBAK!